As you guys may have heard by now, we are opening our very first Free People store in Philadelphia this Friday! It is definitely a homecoming of sorts, as we open our doors on Walnut Street in Center City, not far from where the company began. You’ll hear much more about all the special touches we’re putting into the store over the next few days, but today Jemma, Naomi and I decided to take a field trip and head to some spots in the city that are nearest and dearest to our hearts, to shoot our own little Philly lookbook.
I knew right away what my location would be – the street where I grew up. A three story brick townhouse in the Fairmount neighborhood, walking distance from the Art Museum and just a few blocks from the stone walls of the penitentiary. A quiet, tree lined street, where the same construction truck still parks in the spot across from my old house, and marble steps climb up towards doors painted varying shades of blue, red and green.
It was a magical time in my childhood, full of block parties, neighborhood cleanups (when we’d all go out and rake leaves and clean up together), bike rides, scraped knees, and water ice from the park grocery across the street that has since closed its doors for good. Sometimes its nice to take a little trip down memory lane.
After wearing the wingtip boots today I became slightly attached.
Stay tuned for our photos, they’ll be up later this week!
Images of the Chinese new year celebrations are always so incredible. I love that they take each new year and the symbolism behind it so seriously. 2012 is the year of the dragon – a symbol of power, strength and luck…a year to take control and breathe fiery life into everything you do.
Come celebrate the new year AND the Year of The Dragon at Free People South Coast plaza! We will be having a special Lunar New Year celebration tomorrow, Saturday January 21st, 10am – 1pm.
What better way to kick off the new year then to refresh your wardrobe or try a style you’ve never dared to try before! We will be partnering with our lovely neighbors, AVEDA, to help you achieve the look you’re going for!
Of course there will be yummy treats for you to snack on while we style you from head to toe AND a gift from AVEDA with every purchase (while supplies last).
When you’re done with us go next door and let the ladies at AVEDA give you a whole new makeover!
We’ll see you there!
For more info and to RSVP visit their facebook page.
This weekend my mind was running overtime, running overtime with inspiring thoughts. Sometimes I just need a new twist to my weekend in order for the light to come back on again; you can get stuck in a routine and that routine can kill your mind, so Friday I went to New York to see the future Free People collection for June Wholesale. The collection was bright and poppy and reminded me of the Sun, Sand and Sea just what I needed on that brutal cold day.
Being in a new place for a couple of days gave me a new light I saw things that made my inspiration bank fill up and it made me feel alive all weekend, don’t you just love when that happens?
We have two very cool job openings on our store team! We are looking for a Midwest District Visual Manager, who will be based out of Chicago, and a Northeast District Display Coordinator, who will be based out of Boston!
For more info and to apply for one of these positions, click on the links below.
We’d love to know! Submit a photo of you wearing your favorite FP piece and tell us which city best suits your personal style! We will select a winner for New York and a winner for LA, who will each receive a $250 gift card.
We’ve been getting some pretty awesome love letters from all of you. Just a reminder for those that haven’t sent theirs in yet – you have until this Friday! You can either email in to blog@freepeople.com or mail to:
Free People
Attn: Love Letters
5000 S Broad St, Bldg 25
Philadelphia, PA 19112
One lucky fan will win a $200 FP gift card, so hurry and get yours in! We can’t wait to see all of them. :)
Here is part two of store style featuring our lovely New York girls!
“And love won’t play any games with you
Anymore if you don’t want ’em to
The world won’t wait and I watched you shake
But honey, I don’t blame you
Hell, I still love you, New York”
I love everything about this – the reverse it kachow thermal with a seamless layering top underneath, vintage wash straight leg denim, flannel and killer boots.
On the left, get a sophisticated look with the extreme flares by adding a button-down shirt, sweater and fedora. On the right, model off duty Brooke Nesbitt spotted in our chevron sweater dress!
We can’t wait for our catalog to drop next week! In anticipation of the January book and its coast to coast theme, I thought it would be fun to check out the style of our California and New York store girls – they all have such amazing style, and you can definitely see the difference in the style of the opposite coasts. I love them both!
“Made up my mind to make a new start, Going To California with an aching in my heart.
Someone told me there’s a girl out there with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair.
Took my chances on a big jet plane, never let them tell you that they’re all the same.
The sea was red and the sky was grey, wondered how tomorrow could ever follow today.
The mountains and the canyons started to tremble and shake
as the children of the sun began to awake.”
We had two reasons to celebrate today! First we had a birthday breakfast celebration for our amazing office coordinator, and then we had a baby shower at lunch for our email marketing manager who is expecting very soon. You ladies both rock!!
She loves scooters and scooter rallies, so one of our co-workers brought in this adorable Barbie scooter for her! I’m so jealous I never had one of these!
Our lovely graphic design team did a great job putting this calendar together! You can download the January calendar from our flickr page, and we’ll post them each month here on the blog! Enjoy :)
*UPDATE: a horizontal version is now available! Download it on our flickr page. *